The Daily Kos & Courage Campaign – 2017-02-25 00:19:01

https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/petitions/sign-if-you-agree-with-barbara-lee-steve-bannon-must-be-removed-from-the-national-security-council

ACTION ALERT: Remove Steve Bannon
From the National Security Council
Petition / The Daily Kos

Steve Bannon is a dangerous white supremacist and anti-Semite, but we can’t stop Donald Trump from listening to his advice. But after Trump placed him on the National Security Council (where he is privy to top-secret information) Bannon crossed the line to becoming a serious threat to our safety.

Even George W. Bush had the common sense not to allow Karl Rove at NSC meetings.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee has introduced House Resolution 140 that would call for removing Bannon from the National Security Council. Even if this resolution does not pass, every Congress member must be held accountable on this vote.

Sign if you agree with Barbara Lee: Bannon must be removed from the National Security Council and Congress must pass H.Res. 140.

Petitioning Congress
Sponsored by
Daily Kos Action Network

Our Message to Congress:
Steve Bannon is a dangerous white supremacist, and placing him on the National Security Council endangers all our safety. Please vote “yes” on House Resolution 140.

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ACTION ALERT: Sign the Petition:
Get Bannon off the National Security Council
Courage Campaign

(February 24, 2017) — Stephen Bannon, the white nationalist who has become one of Donald Trump’s top advisors, has effectively appointed himself to the National Security Council (NSC), the country’s highest national security body. (1)

Even military and national security experts find this alarming. (2) Bannon has no national security experience, but he does have an extreme ideological agenda — and national security should be driven by facts, not ideology or politics.

It’s becoming clear: Donald Trump may be the President of the United States, but Bannon is really running the show at the White House. Bannon’s power grab is unprecedented, dangerous, and must be stopped.

There’s bipartisan concern over Bannon’s self-appointment to the National Security Council, and, in an effort to block it, two bills have been introduced to give Congress the power to approve National Security Council appointees. There’s real momentum — now is the time to rein in Bannon before he puts the safety and integrity of the American people at further risk.

The executive order elevating Bannon — a political hack with no national security experience — to the National Security Council also downgrades the roles traditionally played by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s top military body, and the director of national intelligence.

This is a big deal. These roles have been so prominent on the NSC because their judgments are based on facts, not calculations of political or electoral gain. But for Bannon, every move he makes is based on pushing forward his agenda.

And that’s scary, because Bannon’s agenda has historically involved elevating the voices of white supremacist and nationalist movements in the United States and abroad. (3) His publications have trashed women, people of color, and LGBTQ folks. (4)

And a close examination of his beliefs indicates a cartoonishly bleak view of the world steeped in wild conspiracy theories — including a morbid obsession with the idea that World War III is about to happen. (5) Bannon shouldn’t have the power to help start it.

To make matters worse, news reports indicate that when Trump signed the executive order changing the structure of the National Security Council to include Bannon, he didn’t even realize what he was signing. (6)

It’s no wonder that both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have expressed deep concerns about Bannon’s appointment. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates called it a “big mistake,” Senator John McCain called it a “radical departure,” and retired Admiral Michael Mullen — who served on the NSC under Presidents Bush and Obama — is calling for Bannon’s removal from the council altogether.(7)

Two separate bills have been introduced that would bring appointments to the National Security Council under Congressional oversight. In the current climate — with the last National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, resigning under a cloud of suspicion and lingering questions about Trump’s aides’ relationship with the Russian government — there’s a real chance for bipartisan agreement about reining in Bannon’s power grab.


ACTION: Tell Congress to stop Steve Bannon’s appointment to the National Security Council!

Footnotes:

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/us/politics/trump-white-house-aides-strategy.html

2. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/06/opinion/i-was-on-the-national-security-council-bannon-doesnt-belong-there.html

3. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/stephen-bannon-donald-trump-alt-right-breitbart-news

4. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/us/politics/stephen-bannon-breitbart-words.html

5. https://www.thenation.com/article/steve-bannon-wants-to-start-world-war-iii/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/steve-bannon-apocalypse-third-world-war-coming-white-house-donald-trump-historian-claim-film-david-a7570631.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-bannon-apocalypse_us_5898f02ee4b040613138a951

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/01/31/bannon-odds-islam-china-decades-us-foreign-policy-doctrine/97292068/

6. http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-not-fully-briefed-executive-action-steve-bannon-national-security-council-2017-2

http://www.businessinsider.com/mullen-trump-steve-bannon-nsc-2017-2

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-steve-bannon-national-security-council-2017-1

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